One by one
by XxTalented-x-CheesexX
Summary: Piper was always the wildest of the three sisters. Living for the moment. Getting caught up in dramas. Now she's ready to settle down and gets a job at the local hospital. What will happen when she gets caught up in a certain doctors past? AU PL
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: I got the inspiration for this fic watching 'House' –great show. This is a pretty short opening chapter, but I'll try to make the next one longer. This is just something I'm writing, while I wait for the next chapter of 'Kaleidoscope' to come to me. Please review.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

One by one.

_Chapter one._

She was late. Being late on your first day was never a good idea. Especially when you actually wanted to _keep_ the job. Of course this was a complete turnaround for Piper Halliwell. A far cry from the 'who needs a job?' attitude she'd left in New York. Way too many waitressing jobs had ended with her throwing coffee in someone's face. And that were nothing compared to the time she worked behind the counter in a record store. Needless to say, she was now banned from setting foot in 'Virgin' ever again… But this was a new start. A new her.

She hadn't led what you might call a sensible life up until now. She'd been living for the moment. Jumping from job to job. Meaningless relationship to meaningless relationship. And it had been fun. She'd admit that. But not something she could keep doing forever. So here she was, back in San Francisco with the most un-Piper like achievement of finishing med school.

Of course she wasn't about to admit this. Revealing that she wasn't exactly compatible with holding down a steady job, wasn't likely to get her off to the best start. Not with this guy. Doctor Wyatt. Her new boss.

Just one look around his office told her that. It was spotless. Everything had its own place. Stationary. Files. Notes. Only one neatly placed book, and a mug of half finished black coffee cluttered his perfectly, almost compulsively, polished desk. No randomly tossed CD's. No scribbled on post it notes. No photos of family and friends.

Piper had always thought that a person's private space held hundreds of untold chapters about them. Feelings. Moods. Memories. The neatness of Dr Wyatt's office told her that he was a control freak. The black coffee may have just meant that he was too lazy to go out and buy more milk, but with the previous in mind, Piper doubted it. It was more likely to be a hint that he was a hardcore coffee addict, who spent most nights trying to keep himself awake in here. Typing away. Working. Not letting himself be distracted by anything. The complete lack of photos suggested to Piper that he didn't let them clutter his life either. She didn't understand people like that. Her purse alone contained more than a dozen battered pictures of her two sisters. Her nieces and nephews. Her best friends Justin and Dawn.

Piper's eyes fell on the book. A well used copy of 'The Da Vinci code.' Maybe she'd been too quick to judge him. Poking out of it, obviously being used as a bookmark, was an old worn looking photograph. It had white fold lines down it separating the three adolescent boys. Revealing how many times it had been folded and refolded.

She smiled at the sentimentality of it, and reached out to slide the picture out from in between the pages it was separating. Before her fingers could reach the book, the office door quietly creaked open, before slamming harshly back into its frame. Piper jumped, and withdrew her outstretched hand, just in time to act surprised when somebody cleared their throat loudly behind her.

Piper span around to find herself caught in the gaze of a pair of exquisite green eyes. Their owner was surveying her warily. Eyebrow raised. Arms crossed.

"Hi." She breathed. "I'm-"

"Late."


	2. Chapter 2

Authors note: Thanks everyone who reviewed the first chapter. The next chapter of Kaleidoscope should be coming soon. It's just about finished, but its still lacking the very end, and I think it needs editing a bit, but it's almost done.

xoxoxoxox

Chapter two 

It didn't take Piper long to figure out that this guy was completely unscrewable. Dr Wyatt was one of those people who had put up so many barriers over the years that it was impossible to tell the difference between real feelings and emotions, and defence mechanisms he probably didn't even realize he was using.

Everything about him seemed to have two sides. His emerald green eyes were a rich warm colour, but at the same time, the annoyed impatient attitude they reflected couldn't have been more cold.

"Well… I thought you'd have given me a pathetically unbelievable, and unwanted excuse by now. Are you a bit slow?" he asked her patronizingly, taking a casual seat at his clutter free desk.

Piper blinked, slightly taken back by the obviousness of his insult, and understandably offended.

"No… I just didn't get much sleep last night. I-"

"Here comes the excuse." Dr Wyatt interrupted with mock anticipation. "Boyfriend couldn't get enough? The cat ran away from home? –Always heartbreaking. No, no… An escaped mental patient broke into your house and barricaded himself in your bathroom. Understandably you had to spend the night trying to talk him out."

"What the hell are you going on about?"

Dr Wyatt surveyed her for an uncomfortably long second, before saying very seriously, "Its called sarcasm Miss Halliwell. I find it makes the day go by a little faster."

"Okay…It-its Piper."

"I know. Its written on the piece of paper in front of me. I was being polite."

If this was him being polite, Piper would hate to see him being rude, and she almost told him as much, but managed to bite her tongue. It would be the equivalent of throwing coffee in someone's face and Piper had sworn that she had flung her last hot beverage. So that meant holding her tongue and keeping sarcasm to a minimum, which, unsurprisingly, she wasn't particularly good at.

"So what's your excuse?"

"I just moved back to San Francisco yesterday, and I managed to loose my car keys, after locking my spares in the car along with most of my stuff." Piper answered obediently.

"Is that why you're wearing _that_?" He asked with obvious disdain tinting his voice.

"Would you have preferred me to turn up in my underwear?" she snapped, unable to stop herself.

'That' happened to be a pair of very expensive designer jeans that she'd had to save up for months to afford, and her beloved black Nirvana T-shirt. Disdain wasn't appropriate.

Fortunately Dr Wyatt ignored her.

"There are spare uniforms. Your hair is too long." He continued, almost randomly.

"Excuse me?"

"Your hair. It's against health and safety regulations, which being a hospital, we kinda have to follow."

He turned back to his desk, loosing interest in the conversation, and started scribbling away on a file he had just cleanly pulled out of a neatly organized drawer.

"Um, Dr Wyatt?"

"Tie it up, or cut it off. I don't care which."

"That's not what I meant." Piper said, running a Protective hand through her hair.

"Talk to Julie on the front desk. She'll get you started.

Figuring that he was done with his random rants and unfair insults Piper wandered out of his office. She'd be lucky to get another two words out of him anyway. The shutters had well and truly gone down.

Piper sighed. Okay, so all of her belongings were ironically locked in a car that she'd rather die than scratch, she'd left her favourite shoes in New York, and her boss was a jerk. Not to mention the fact that her old room looked as if Prue had decided to turn into a cardboard box factory. So far the signs weren't exactly the good. The powers that be didn't seem to be on her side.

Piper was the sort of person who had always believed in superstition. Like the weather at the start of Shakespeare's plays foreshadowed the tone of events to come Piper had always taken signs and omens literally. Bad signs meant bad things to come. But she was a big girl now. She couldn't let a thunderstorm or two scare her away.

"Can I help you?" the redhead at the desk asked, offering Piper the first smile she'd encountered at this place, and reassuring her that the gesture hadn't gone out of fashion.

Piper took a deep breath and started to explain everything. All she could do was hope she didn't get struck by lightening…

xoxoxoxoxox

He was hiding more than waiting in the little corner that offered enough shadow for him to avoid most curious or wandering eyes. That's what he did everyday. Sometimes they saw him. Asked him to leave. Other times they didn't, and he just sat there all day. Thinking. Hating.

Today was one of those days. He saw her come out of the office. The pretty brunette girl, who'd rushed in late. What did she think she was doing? Didn't she know about Wyatt? Know what he'd done?

They'd said it was an accident. Dismissed it. Told him to forget about it. But they were wrong. Soon she'd realize. He'd make her see. He'd make them all see…

xoxoxoxoxoxox

What did you think? I wasn't sure about the weather talk I used to describe Pipers feelings, and I know I went a bit sunset beach at the end, but come on, you gotta love that show! Please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys. I am so sorry about the incredibly long wait. I've been pretty busy since the summer. The good news is I passed all my GCSE's. The bad news is I decided to go back to school to do A levels, so I have virtually no free time. I started to write this chapter before, and I didnt like it, so I just sat down, and typed it straight out of my head (which I never do) and it sort of came out as a chapter which explains why Leo's why he is, without actually telling you... coz thats a surprise. lol. Hope you like it. (Anyone who's also reading Kaleidoscope, I have no idea when I'm gonna be able to update... just bear with me, coz I've sort of lost where I am and where I'm going with it...)

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Chapter three

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12:42 am. How could it only be 12:42 am? It seemed like weeks had passed, when it had barely been five hours.

Leo sighed, swivelling his chair round to give his tired eyes a break from the glaring computer screen, and his back a rest from his hunched position.

Everything was so quiet. Still. He hated it, but had slowly come to realize that working was the best way to avoid sleep. The dreams had a way of catching up with him at home, even when he was wide awake, and they were something he didn't have the energy to deal with at the moment.

So he was sat in his office working on other doctors' paperwork. It was boring, but didn't come attached to flashbacks and panic attacks.

A soft knock at the door brought him out of his reverie.

"Come in."

"'Brought you some coffee."

Leo smiled.

"Thanks Julie. What are you still doing here?"

The redhead yawned, looking how he felt, but much, much happier about it.

"It's Toby's birthday coming up. I'm working a few doubles. The little monster wants one of those mini BMX things."

Leo blinked.

"He's like two…"

"He's coming up for eight Leo." Julie said softly.

Leo frowned, wondering how each day could drag on for so long but at the same time fly by so fast. It never used to be like this. Nothing did.

"Of course he is…"

Julie invited herself to sit on the edge of his desk, obviously preparing for a lecture.

"Are you alright?" she asked, looking at him like she still knew him. Like he was still the same man she'd been so close to for so many years.

"I'm fine."

This was obviously the wrong thing to say.

"Leo, do you think I ask the same question over and over again to get the same response?"

"I thought you'd have given up asking it by now." He said, turning back to his computer.

"I think you need help."

"Which one of us is the doctor?!" he snapped.

"The same one of us that's a self absorbed bastard. You still haven't dealt with what happened Leo. You're keeping it all inside. Feeling guilty. Taking it out on everyone around you. It's gone on too long."

"I'm not in the mood for this."

"You never are."

"Spare me the amateur psychology, Julie, it's not in your job description. Thanks for the coffee." He said, completely turning his back on her. Giving her a cue to leave.

She took it.

She was right. He knew she was right, but what was he supposed to do? Break down in tears, admitting that every time he tried to sleep, images of Rick filled his head? It would only be telling her what she already knew. That everything had gone down hill from there. Carrie had left him after six years of marriage, not being able to cope with him shutting her out. In the end she left him for a man who could tell her that he loved her.

Leo picked up the coffee that Julie had brought him, as a thinly disguised excuse for yet another therapy session, and squeezed the Styrofoam cup, not even flinching when the boiling liquid overflowed onto his hand, and hurled it angrily at the wall.

The cup bounced, some of it sloshing up the wall, some of it puddling into the carpet leaving a dark stain. Black. How he always had his coffee. How he always felt.


End file.
